passionate about inspiration, beauty & nostalgia

The Winter Girls

Nature has definitely been a strong influence on our Easter break, with our trip to the farm, our nature workshop with Debi-Sara and our many walks; and today was certainly no exception. Once back at school Dylan begins his project on ‘Growing things’ as well as ‘forest school’ so we have been embracing these themes hugely in order to inspire him, so when Milton Keynes Arts Centre asked me to come along and document their new spring exhibition I jumped at the chance.

The Winter Girls by Hannah Brown is a collection of sculptures which explore the relationship between nature and humans, focusing on the construction and domestication of the onsite Bee Hive and it’s diligent inhabitants dubbed ‘The Winter Girls’ by their keeper.

The sculptures were formed using a collection of natural debris, found onsite, combined with iconic prints from Liberty of London, a prolific self-sufficient institution, much like the hives themselves.

To support the grand opening of Hannah’s exhibition the centre had also arranged a day of related activities. We started with the free Young Pioneers Workshop in which Debi-Sara led the children in creating their own nature inspired modrock hymn sticks, using similar techniques used by Hannah Brown. We took a walk through to the hives as well as looking at several of the natural gems surrounding the studio to really gain inspiration.

We also had a little peek at the woodwork studio which Dylan was really keen to participate in, as well as a talk and honey tasting from the local beekeeper Rodney Dangerfield . If you fancy seeing the sculptures in person then why not visit the centre, I was a little on edge taking a very clumsy and hyper child along to see them but he really enjoyed finding all the hidden bees and treated it like a giant game of Where’s Wally.